"Tribute" — what a loaded word.
Chen Huangpi listened, and sothing about it felt profoundly strange.
He gazed at the mutated divine statue, now far more powerful than before, and couldn't shake a sense of absurdity.
The evil spirits were equally stupefied.
Especially Wang Mingdao, who stamred, "What exactly is this Great King Yellow Skin? Is he really Chen Huangpi? Why would the mutated divine statue offer him tribute?"
After all, the As-You-Wish Bodhisattva had just declared this being to be "Supre God Guangmu."
And after devouring those consecrated gods, it had recovered thirty percent of its power.
At thirty percent, it was already this terrifying.
At full strength — how monstrous would it be?
Wang Mingdao even suspected that this Supre God Guangmu was now more fearso than any Calamity. Perhaps only the Calamity Eye's sword-light could rival it.
Yet this awe-inspiring existence—
Had bowed its head to the Great King Yellow Skin, who was at most a top-tier Disaster.
Incomprehensible. Unfathomable.
The evil spirits had simpler minds.
They didn't understand all the subtleties — they only knew that bowing ant losing.
Every single one of them wanted to burst into applause.
"The Great King Yellow Skin is incredible!"
"So asly Supre God Guangmu, brought to its knees with a single sentence!"
"In all the Hundred Thousand Mountains, I recognize only the Great King Yellow Skin!"
No doubt, once these evil spirits left the God-Burying Mound, the tale of how the Great King Yellow Skin had forced the Supre God Guangmu — sothing more terrifying than a Calamity — into submission would spread like wildfire.
Chen Huangpi paid the evil spirits no mind.
His heart was a tangled knot of emotions, and even his liver-fire had subsided sowhat.
"Mutated divine statue — I'll keep calling you that. What did you an by telling this is a tribute?"
"Wasn't it always who gave you tribute?"
Chen Huangpi's feelings toward the mutated divine statue were complicated.
As a child, he'd loved sneaking bites of its offerings.
Because the variety was wonderful, and the flavors even better.
Sotis, when he was exhausted from chanting sutras in the great hall, he would lie down at the divine statue's feet and fall asleep right there.
That was why, when the mutated divine statue later appeared at the mountain gate trying to co back, Chen Huangpi had gone soft and agreed.
If Master hadn't forbidden it—
The statue would probably be standing in its old spot right now.
As for it trying to kill him later, Chen Huangpi chalked that up to the corruption.
One thing was one thing.
At this mont, the mutated divine statue sighed with resignation and spoke through the Big-Headed Evil Spirit. "It was always giving you tribute — when has there ever been a ti you gave any? If you hadn't co every day to steal my offerings, if I hadn't been bled dry from all the tributing, I never would have thought about running away."
"Now that I've recovered thirty percent of my divine power, I can barely stay lucid."
"You want sothing, and how could I dare refuse you?"
The mutated divine statue's words were laced with bitterness.
Every god in the Pure Immortal Temple had been brought by the Guanzhu from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.
By the original agreent, they only needed to stay in the temple peacefully and offer daily tribute to Chen Huangpi once he'd grown a little — and in return, the Guanzhu would protect them.
But then the Guanzhu went mad.
Chen Huangpi didn't know what had happened that day. He simply assud the Guanzhu had lost his mind.
Even the Brass Oil Lamp didn't know.
But the gods had seen everything, clear as day.
It had been the hour just before dawn.
The Guanzhu sat alone in the great hall when suddenly, clusters of golden-black characters — like flowers, birds, fish, and insects — erupted across his body. They writhed and squird as though alive.
The characters were shackles. They were tornt.
The Guanzhu's face contorted in agony, but he pressed his hand over his mouth, refusing to make a single sound.
Because Chen Huangpi was sleeping.
Every god trembled with terror. So squeezed their eyes shut and sealed their ears, too afraid to watch.
Because they all knew exactly what the Guanzhu was.
Near-Dao.
The gods couldn't fathom what had happened, and they dared not try.
In the end, the Guanzhu went mad.
Before losing himself, he spoke one sentence and did one thing.
The sentence was: "What goes on beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains — this poor Daoist couldn't care less. But swapping out the sun and moon, rushing my little Huangpi into growing up — do you really think this poor Daoist has no way to deal with you?"
"This poor Daoist may be old! But he hasn't died yet!"
"You want to act unruly? Wait another ten thousand years!"
"Sun and moon — this poor Daoist can change them too!"
With that, the Guanzhu ford a sword-seal with two fingers and slashed at himself five tis.
The first cut split out his soul.
The second divided the soul into yin and yang — the yin was moon, the yang was sun.
As for the last three cuts—
The mutated divine statue didn't know what exactly happened. But from that mont on, the Guanzhu was truly mad.
Purple, white, green — three colors.
The Guanzhu beca three Guanzhus. At first, he regained lucidity every few days, checking that the gods were honoring their agreent to offer tribute to Chen Huangpi.
But later, years upon years passed without a single mont of clarity.
So of the gods began to have other ideas.
The tribute was their own flesh and blood.
Who would willingly keep offering forever?
Moreover, once the Guanzhu went mad, strange things started happening in the Pure Immortal Temple.
Every eight hundred years, a bizarre entity would appear at nightfall and wander the temple grounds.
That entity wasn't the Guanzhu, yet it possessed an extraordinarily eerie power. The gods speculated it might be the "you" the Guanzhu had addressed in his final words.
In short — the gods ran.
The mutated divine statue was the last to leave.
It hadn't wanted to go. But being the sole remaining god providing tribute to Chen Huangpi, it was being eaten alive. If it stayed any longer, it would truly be bled dry.
Yet the mont it left the Pure Immortal Temple—
The corruption took hold. At first it could maintain its sanity, but it grew increasingly maddened.
Instinctively, it sought out other consecrated gods and devoured them to resist the black smoke's corruption.
But the Hundred Thousand Mountains simply didn't have enough gods for it to consu. Eventually, it lost itself completely.
Only when Chen Huangpi drained most of the black smoke from its body — and the Guanzhu roughed it up — did a fragnt of its awareness return.
The mutated divine statue knew the Guanzhu had raised Chen Huangpi as his own flesh and blood.
Now, encountering Chen Huangpi again—
How could it possibly dare to refuse him?
At that mont—
The mutated divine statue pushed the As-You-Wish Bodhisattva in front of Chen Huangpi.
Its tone was complex. "This god was consecrated later — not part of the original batch. If it had been, it too would have shown you the sa deference. It would never have dared commit such an offense."
The words were artful.
Not once did the mutated divine statue ntion the Guanzhu.
Yet every word circled back to him.
The Brass Oil Lamp noticed imdiately. This mutated divine statue was definitely one of their own.
Its verbal finesse was exquisite.
Not even a vague reference like "that figure" or "that being" had slipped out.
'Chen Huangpi, it seems it's telling you the truth.'
The Brass Oil Lamp said, 'But do you truly want to kill this Bodhisattva? It might still be useful.'
The As-You-Wish Bodhisattva's power was bizarre indeed.
Killing it outright would be a waste.
The Life-reaping Ghost added, 'Master, the Dog Rearing Scripture could be used to control it.'
However—
Chen Huangpi's voice was resolute. "If I don't kill it, my heart will never be at peace. Its abilities may be strange and useful — so what? If I dislike it, I kill it!"
With that, Chen Huangpi brought his blade down upon the vacant-eyed Bodhisattva.
The As-You-Wish Bodhisattva's skull was cleaved in two.
"Bravo!"
The Brass Oil Lamp surged with excitent. 'Magnificent — "If I dislike it, I kill it!" Chen Huangpi, you truly carry three-tenths of the Guanzhu's spirit now!'
During the last Heaven and Earth Mutation, when the anomaly of sun and moon sharing the sky had appeared—
The Guanzhu had said the sa two words: "I dislike it."
Those words alone had made the Brass Oil Lamp prostrate itself in worship.
Now, hearing Chen Huangpi speak the sa sentint — how could it not be moved?
The Life-reaping Ghost said, 'Master, as long as your heart is at ease — that is what matters.'
With the As-You-Wish Bodhisattva dead—
The fury in Chen Huangpi's heart dissipated in an instant.
Even the essence circulating through his liver grew noticeably purer and denser.
Chen Huangpi felt a flash of insight. 'So this is what it ans to clear one's mind. I should have done the sa when forging the Kidney Temple.'
It wasn't just a ntal shift. The essence had changed.
He could also sense a subtle transformation in the still-unfinished Liver Temple.
An unbearable itching spread across his whole body, as though sothing were about to sprout from underneath his skin.
But before he could even scratch—
The itching vanished as abruptly as it had co, as if it had never been there.
Chen Huangpi was puzzled, but this wasn't the ti to dwell on it. He turned to the mutated divine statue. "What should I call you? Supre God Guangmu?"
The mutated divine statue shook its head. "Others may address that way, but in your presence, I cannot presu. Just call the mutated divine statue, as you always have."
"Alright."
Chen Huangpi didn't stand on ceremony. In a frank and open manner, he asked, "Will you co back with ?"
He missed the offerings.
The mutated divine statue's tributes had always been the tastiest.
But the statue replied with gentle regret. "I cannot go back. I violated the agreent, and that demands a price. Besides, that place was never my ho. I need to leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains, head west, cross the Nine Dao Sea and three mountain ranges. I want to go ho."
"Then before you go — could you do one favor?"
"What favor?"
"I need to reach the Underworld Yellow Spring and find the Soul-Restoring Jade. That's why I ca to this God-Burying Mound."
Hearing this—
The mutated divine statue understood at once. "Yes — there is indeed a passage to the Yellow Springs below. But I cannot enter it."
"Why not?"
"Because I am a god of the mortal world, not a Yin God of the Underworld Yellow Spring."
"If I were to enter, I would instantly combust in the Flas of Imasurable Karma. But these consecrated gods are different — they were crafted using yellow mud from the Yin Lands, so they won't be rejected."
"I see."
Chen Huangpi was disappointed. If the mutated divine statue could accompany him into the Underworld Yellow Spring—
It would have been a trendous asset.
But if it couldn't go, how could he bear to force it?
As if sensing his thoughts—
The mutated divine statue spoke warmly. "Don't worry. The Underworld Yellow Spring may be perilous, but for you, it's like coming ho. You'll be fine without ."
Chen Huangpi didn't know whether to believe that.
Was this egg of his really from the Underworld Yellow Spring?
He considered for a mont, then said, "In that case, just tell where the passage is. I'll go down and have a look myself."
The mutated divine statue replied, "It's inside the coffin on the third level."
"The third level? Can you take there?"
"Of course!"
The mutated divine statue nodded. It spread its arms wide, the vertical eyes on each palm aligning in different directions.
Then its enormous chest-maw yawned open.
From within surged twin streams of light — one black, one white.
The lights aid at one side of the pit wall.
Sharp as swords, they pierced straight through.
The third level of the God-Burying Mound lay exposed before Chen Huangpi.
Unlike the first or second levels—
This was a burial chamber. A single, vast burial chamber.
Inside it, Chen Huangpi could see the Yellow Peril, Mang Shan Jun, the other Disasters, and the Slender Evil Spirit — all of them already there.
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